Amsterdam
Date1900 - 1910
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsCanvas: 36 1/2 × 26 1/2 inches (92.7 × 67.3 cm)
Framed: 39 × 49 × 4 inches (99.1 × 124.5 × 10.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase.
Object number1910.1
CopyrightThe images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextBorn and raised in Berlin, Hans Herrmann attended a high school for the arts before leaving in 1880 to study painting at Düsseldorf. There, Herrmann met Gari Melchers, who would be the Telfair’s fine arts advisor from 1906 to 1916, and the two remained lifelong friends. In 1883 Herrmann joined Melchers and George Hitchcock in Holland, and although he visited Holland periodically throughout his life, he returned to live in Berlin in 1886. Herrmann’s early paintings belong to the German tradition of dark and somber realism, and Amsterdam possesses the traits of this early style. The painting is a view of a Dutch street with vendors and a female shopper; the predominant color is grayish brown, with only minor highlights of white, red, lavender and yellow. Although Herrmann’s later work would show the influence of the bright palette and loose brushwork of impressionism, this painting contains few hints of Herrmann’s later impressionistic style.Subject MatterAmsterdam, Netherlands (Holland)